


lately i´ve been dreaming of a life

by vicbartons



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Pillow Talk, proposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-27
Updated: 2017-10-27
Packaged: 2019-01-23 17:06:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12512152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vicbartons/pseuds/vicbartons
Summary: sometimes, aaron´s silence doesn´t mean that there´s a fight brewing under the surface.





	lately i´ve been dreaming of a life

**Author's Note:**

> tumblr prompt: "please, just tell me."
> 
> title from "i believe in us" by léon

_“Please, just tell me.”_  It was close to midnight, their bedroom only illuminated by the faint red glow of the electronic alarm clock on Robert´s bedside table that he had been staring at for almost an hour now. Robert knew that Aaron wasn´t asleep, could hear it in the way his breathing hitched every now and again, so unlike the steady deep hum he gave off every other night, when he was fast asleep with his head buried in the crook of Robert´s neck.

But tonight was different. 

Tonight neither one of them was sleeping and instead of finding themselves in the middle of their bed with their limbs entangled, both of them were tucked away at their respective edges with their backs turned towards each other. 

Aaron let out a low growl filled with tiredness and frustration at the sound of Robert´s words.

“It´s nothing.” 

Robert  _knew_  it wasn´t nothing. Aaron had been weird and distant with him for days now. Ignoring his phone calls, skipping their usual lunch dates, fobbing Robert off with talk of meetings with scrap contacts that had somehow never made their way into their calendar and seemingly desperate for alone time whenever he could get it. They had been here before and Robert would never forget how it had ended. 

So this wasn´t nothing.

If it were nothing, Aaron wouldn´t have blown up at him that very evening when Robert had tried to confront him and the few centimeters of empty mattress space between them wouldn´t feel like miles. 

“Don´t,” Robert muttered, “I know when you´re keeping stuff from me.”

Aaron took a deep breath at that, turning over with a huff to reach out for Robert. His hand found Robert´s shoulder and he let his thumb draw small circles over the bare skin there. “It´s nothing to be worried about, alright?” he reassured, “I´ll tell you when I tell you.”

“We promised each other we wouldn´t do this again,” Robert mumbled in response, unable to leave these things be anymore. He coudn´t bare it, not after last time. Finally, Robert turned around and shuffled closer towards Aaron, desperate to touch, “the secrets and the lying and the bottling things up. I can´t do it again,” he whispered into the dark, as their hands found each other over the covers.

“No, that´s not-”

“I can´t lose you again, Aaron” he added quietly, grabbing the younger man´s hand a little tighter. Aaron could barely make out his face in the dark, but he didn´t have to, because Robert´s voice was seeped with a level of fear and desperation that was impossible to ignore

“I want to marry ya, alright, you muppet?” He hadn´t meant to say it. Not here, not like this. Definitely not that loudly and harshly, with an insult tagged to the end. It had just tumbled out, because Aaron had basically been able to hear the chin quiver in Robert´s voice and in those moments his instincts kicked in, desperate to protect and reassure. “I want to marry you again, properly,” he added softer, “and I had it all planned out as a proper surprise, but clearly, that´s not possible when you have a husband who´s a complete control freak,” he shook his head lightly, his voice almost a chuckle,”I mean honestly, Rob-”

He never got to finish that sentence, because Robert interrupted him again, sounding so small that it barely fit the cocky, self-assured man Aaron had fallen head over heels in love with over three years ago.“You want to marry me?” he asked.

Right then, the moonlight fell through a crack in the bedroom curtains, illuminating Robert´s face in a light, white glow. He was biting his bottom lip and his eyes were wide open with shock. Aaron could feel a tug at his heart at the sight of him, looking so much younger than his thirty-two.

“´Course I want to,” he said, a smile spreading across his face. For a minute, there was nothing but silence between them and for the first time in a long while it didn´t feel comfortable, but instead made Aaron shuffle backwards, and gave a sinking feeling enough time to settle in the pit of his stomach.

“I mean, unless-” He was suddenly feeling uncertain. “I thought you would want to again now that-” Aaron let his voice fade into nothingness, and unable to hold Robert´s gaze any longer, his eyes settled on their intertwined fingers. His thumb was brushing over the cold metal of Robert´s wedding ring. The one he had never taken off in all these months. Regardless of how far they had drifted apart, the small piece of silver had always given Aaron that little glimmer of hope that there maybe was a way back for them sometime, even back when he tried very hard to convince himself that that wasn´t something he should ever hope for. 

“Yes."

Robert´s breathy whisper interrupted Aaron´s thoughts, stopped him from going into a tailspin as his hands grabbed either side of Aaron´s face and pulled him in close. “Obviously,” he muttered with his forehead pressed against Aaron´s, leaning in for a quick peck against his lips. ”Yes,” he repeated a third time, as if he had to make himself believe that this was actually happening. That Aaron still wanted him. Wanted him like this again, wanted him to be his husband again. 

“Yeah?” Aaron asked with his eyebrows slightly raised, but the smile on Robert´s face that sent jolts of happiness through his entire body told him everything he nedded to know, the feeling of uncertainty already forgotten.

Robert pulled him in for another kiss, their lips almost touching when he nodded his head slightly and happily sighed,“Yeah."

                                                   

* * *

  

They just lay there for a while afterwards, every inch of their bodies pressed together and too caught up in each other to utter another word, until Aaron couldn´t keep it in any longer and a deep, joyful laugh escaped his kiss-swollen lips.

“Can´t believe you made me scream it at ya,” he grinned.

“Yeah, well,” Robert couldn´t help but chuckle as he pressed his nose against his fiancé´s, ”that seems to be our thing, doesn´t it?” 

Suddenly, it didn´t matter that there wasn´t any of the fancy red wine Robert loved, that Aaron had had Vic order for him, or that they weren´t on “their” bridge, where Aaron had kissed Robert at midnight on New Years under what felt like a thousand lights with his knees shaking not just from the cold, but because he had finally felt like everything was slotting into place again after months of uncertainty. 

None of that mattered.

Because this was perfect in its own way: Robert all open and sleep soft with his fringe sticking to his forehead, his eyes bright and his cheeks red and warm under Aaron´s hands. Both of them cuddled under their blanket, in their bedroom, in the home they´d made for each other. Their limbs tangled together under the covers. This was was  _them._ Just Aaron and Robert in their own little bubble that felt like home and family and a lifetime of excitement yet ahead of them, and really, that was all Aaron had ever wanted.

It was all Aaron wanted for the rest of their lives.

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr: [@vicbartons](https://vicbartons.tumblr.com/)


End file.
